1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

Design your web resource 197
that you cannot present the content structure or the navigation the
way you want because ‘there isn’t room in the design’.
Similarly, you will have favourite fonts and colours, but you need
the ones that complement the layout and reinforce the overall
design requirement to communicate your content most effectively
to your users.
What follows puts the emphasis on graphic design because
this is the point of sale, so to speak. You have to get the users’
attention when they first arrive on your site. If they feel
comfortable with/stimulated by the look and feel of the first
page they see AND if the content is appropriate and well
organized, they are more likely to progress to the next page.
With each new page visited, the content takes greater responsibility
for holding the reader’s interest. However, the graphical
element must remain as a reinforcer, a source of continuity and
navigational aide.
That is quite a stretch – from siren voice to trusted guide –
which is why graphic design is such a demanding area.
Although the scope of this book is broad, a detailed breakdown
of the implementation of graphic design is beyond it. It is better
to focus on some basic principles. If you are ‘doing a site’ for
your company, these guidelines may lead you away from the
deepest elephant traps. If you are part of a web development
team, they may give you a voice around the table in this most
critical of areas.
Robin Williams and John Tollett (2000) identify the following
four key principles when designing your page.
Alignment – it is possible to place elements such as text on the
left-hand side, the right-hand side or in the middle. Choose one
of these alignments and stick to it. Do not mix them, as it
disorientates the reader. Centred alignments should be used
with care. Centring text tends to weaken the visual line as the
edges have no definition.
Proximity – if items on a page are close together, it suggests to
the reader that these items are related. Ensure that items that
should be related (e.g. picture and caption) are placed in closer
proximity than those that should not. Squint your eyes and see